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State to provide psychiatric help

Govt preparing a list of 10 to 12 counsellors who will be sent to quake-hit Nepal
Last Updated 27 April 2015, 19:19 IST

Karnataka will be the first state in the country to offer mental health support to the earthquake-hit Nepal, officials said.

The State government is preparing a list of 10 to 12 counsellors who will be sent to the landlocked Himalayan nation. After sending a team of 10 doctors, along with essential drugs, the State will dispatch a team by the second week of May to help the citizens of Nepal to cope with the aftermath of the calamity.

Speaking to Deccan Herald on Monday, Ashok Pai, chairman, Karnataka State Mental Health Task Force, said they were in the process of selecting a team of doctors to be sent to Nepal. “We are waiting for the situation to get a little better there, so that a suitable environment is created for counselling the survivors of the quake. The team will leave Karnataka on May 10 or 12,” he said.

The team will offer preventive psychiatric help to ensure that the survivors’ condition does not worsen in the aftermath of the disaster. “Not only have these people lost their dear ones, but they have also lost their hard-earned money. Many have even lost their dwellings. Such issues would be addressed,” Dr Pai said.

Pai said that unlike general medicine, where the treatment method and drugs used for similar cases were the same, psychiatric help needed to be addressed individually.

“Every individual is different. Some of them who have strong emotional and social support come out of distress quickly, while others take time,” he said.

Supportive psychotherapy, insight psychotherapy or group therapies would be adopted to counsel the survivors.

“Sometimes, when people hear that there are also fellowmen who have lost their dear ones and property, it might not make them feel any better. But, it will give them an assurance that they are not the only ones in such a difficult situation. This is what group therapy aims at,” the psychiatrist said.

Bengaluru survivors

Even as the survivors returned safely to Bengaluru, memories of the disaster haven’t stopped haunting them. While a few of them have been having shut-eye problems, a few others still feel the tremors under their feet. This is the state of mind of a 11-member group of senior citizens who went to Nepal on a pilgrimate tour.

Dr Ashok Pai said that while a few who had great emotional and social support could come out of the shock, others would be left “scarred” by the experience. “Some of them might have anxiety and depressive features,” he said.

Typically categorised under the ‘post-traumatic stress disorder,’ they might show signs of extreme restlessness and get irritated even with a seemingly similar stimuli. A few others might be depressed, suffer from sleeplessness and also be withdrawn,” he said.

Survivorspeak

Even after returning home, the memories of the quake begin to haunt me the moment I go to sleep. I haven’t slept for three days.
Rekha Pratap
A B’luru-based survivor


After the quake, people rushed to the open fields and did not return to their buildings even late in the evening. They stood there despite rain. Everyone was severely traumatised. Some did not know what to do and sat down on the road.
Y S Venugopal
Resident of Bellandurin Bengaluru

Though I’m in Bengaluru, I feel the earth below me shaking. The fear just does not seem to fade away. I still live that shock every minute.
Chandrashekar
Retired professor

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(Published 27 April 2015, 19:19 IST)

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